Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

1 Remember also your Creator in ^vthe days of your youth, before ^wthe evil days come and the years draw near of which ^xyou will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before ^ythe sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ^zthose who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and ^athe doors on the street are shut—when ^bthe sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^cthe daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and ^dterrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,¹ and desire fails, because man is going to his ^eeternal ^fhome, and the ^gmourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or ^hthe golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ⁱshattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and ^jthe dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^kthe spirit returns to God ^lwho gave it. 8 ^mVanity² of vanities, says ⁿthe Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 Besides being wise, ⁿthe Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ^omany proverbs with great care. 10 ⁿThe Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11 ^pThe words of the wise are like goads, and like ^qnails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ^rgiven by ^sone Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ^umany books there is no end, and ^vmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. ^wFear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.³ 14 For ^xGod will bring every deed into judgment, with⁴ every secret thing, whether good or evil.

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to ^hDo Not Destroy. A ⁱMiktam¹ of David.

Esther Chosen Queen

1 After these things, ^twhen the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti ^uand what she had done and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. 3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of ^vHegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. ^wLet their cosmetics be given them. 4 And let the young woman who pleases the king¹ be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

5 Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was ^xMordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6 ^ywho had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. 7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, ^zthe daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. 8 So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and ^awhen many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of ^bHegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 9 And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her ^cwith her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. 10 ^dEsther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11 And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

12 Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— 13 when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

15 When the turn came for Esther ^ethe daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what ^fHegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set ^gthe royal crown² on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king ^hgave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

19 Now when the virgins were gathered together ⁱthe second time, Mordecai was sitting ^jat the king’s gate. 20 ^kEsther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just ^las when she was brought up by him. 21 In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, ^mBigthan and ⁿTeresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, ^oand he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows.³ And it was recorded in ^pthe book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

The Coming King of Zion

The Lord Will Save His People

To the Church in Sardis

1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him ⁱwho has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation ^jof being alive, ^kbut you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works ^lcomplete in the sight of my God. 3 ^mRemember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, ⁿI will come ^olike a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not ^psoiled their garments, and they will walk with me ^qin white, for they are ^rworthy. 5 ^sThe one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never ^tblot his name out of ^uthe book of life. ^vI will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Philadelphia

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of ^wthe holy one, ^xthe true one, ^ywho has the key of David, ^zwho opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you ^aan open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of ^bthe synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, ^cI will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that ^dI have loved you. 10 ^eBecause you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try ^fthose who dwell on the earth. 11 ^gI am coming soon. ^hHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize ⁱyour crown. 12 ^jThe one who conquers, I will make him ^ka pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him ^lthe name of my God, and ^mthe name of the city of my God, ^mthe new Jerusalem, ⁿwhich comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own ^onew name. 13 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the ^pAmen, ^qthe faithful and true witness, ^rthe beginning of God’s creation.

15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^sWould that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 ^tFor you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ^ublind, and naked. 18 I counsel you ^vto buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and ^wwhite garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^xthe shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, ^uso that you may see. 19 ^yThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and ^zknock. ^aIf anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^bI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 ^cThe one who conquers, ^dI will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as ^eI also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”